===================================================
Accounting Research Manager(TM)
Weekly Summary of Developments
July 21-25, 2008
===================================================

Accounting Research Manager subscriber,

The Accounting Research Manager database now contains this week's weekly summary of developments. Click the link below to access and print the fully-formatted Weekly Summary:

For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

If you do not have immediate Internet access to the Accounting Research Manager database, below is the text of this week's Weekly Summary.

Accounting and SEC Headlines

Financial Assets -- FASB to Discuss Exposure Draft That Would Amend Statement 140 and Other Matters

Auditing and Internal Controls Headlines

Attestation Engagements -- Proposed AICPA Attestation Standard on Examination of an Entity's Internal Control over Financial Reporting Discussed

Government Headlines

Postemployment Benefits -- GASB Issues Proposed Technical Bulletin on Determining Annual Required Contribution Adjustment
Derivative Instruments -- GASB Statement on Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments Discussed

=============================
ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
=============================

Financial Assets -- FASB to Discuss Exposure Draft That Would Amend Statement 140 and Other Matters
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

As reported in its "Action Alert" publication, the FASB is scheduled to meet on July 30, 2008, to reconsider the effective date and transition provisions for proposals to be issued that would amend FASB Statement No. 140, Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities, and FASB Interpretation (FIN) No. 46 (Revised December 2003), Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities. In addition, the FASB is expected to consider transitional disclosures and the timing of both proposals.

As also reported in its Action Alert publication, the FASB met on July 16, 2008, and discussed: (a) revenue recognition; (b) Statement 140 implementation: transfers of financial assets; and (c) disclosures about plan assets. The FASB discussed its revenue recognition project and decided:

-A Preliminary Views document should be issued later this year with at least a four-month comment period.
-The goal is to issue a general revenue recognition standard by June 2011.
-To defer to a future meeting any decisions on the scope of a general revenue recognition standard.
-That at contract inception, a bundle of identified performance obligations would be measured at the contract price, thus precluding revenue (or gain) recognition at contract inception. An entity would allocate the contract price to individual performance obligations based on its actual (or estimated) selling prices for the promised goods and services.
-To affirm its earlier decision that performance obligations should be remeasured only if they are deemed onerous. The FASB rejected the possibility of remeasuring performance obligations because they have regularly observable exit prices or because they span multiple accounting periods and are highly uncertain.

The FASB decided to remove the "fair value practicability" exception as part of its short-term project to amend Statement 140. The FASB also discussed a number of issues raised in comment letters on the proposed FASB Staff Position (FSP) FAS 132(R)-a, Employers' Disclosures about Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets. The FASB decided: (a) materiality guidance should not be provided for disclosing significant plan asset categories; and (b) postretirement benefit plan assets will continue to be excluded from the scope of paragraph 15A of FASB Statement No. 107, Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments, which requires disclosures about concentrations of credit risk of financial instruments.

Some of the documents listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content, click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

=======================================
AUDITING AND INTERNAL CONTROLS HEADLINES:
=======================================

Attestation Engagements -- Proposed AICPA Attestation Standard on Examination of an Entity's Internal Control over Financial Reporting Discussed
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have added a GAAS Update Service that discusses the AICPA's Proposed Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE), An Examination of an Entity's Internal Control over Financial Reporting That Is Integrated with an Audit of Its Financial Statements. This proposal would supersede existing AT Section 501, Reporting on an Entity's Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. This proposal was issued to converge the standards practitioners use for reporting on a nonissuer's internal control over financial reporting with the PCAOB Auditing Standard (AS) No. 5, An Audit of Internal Control That is Integrated with an Audit of Financial Statements. Among other things, the proposed SSAE:

-Conforms the definitions of the terms “significant deficiency” and “material weakness” with the definitions in AS 5;
-Provides guidance on how to identify significant accounts and disclosures and their relevant assertions and how to determine the likely sources of potential misstatements within a given significant account or disclosure;
-Directs the auditor to use a top-down approach to identify the most important controls to test;
-Identifies certain factors that affect the additional evidence that is necessary to update the results of testing from an interim date to the entity's period-end;
-Provides guidance on determining the locations or business units at which to perform tests of controls when an entity has multiple locations;
-Addresses the auditor's use of a benchmarking strategy for entirely automated application controls; and
-Provides direction on incorporating the results of any additional tests of controls performed in an audit of the financial statements, when concluding on the effectiveness of internal control for purposes of expressing an opinion on internal control over financial reporting.

As issued, this proposal would be effective for integrated audits for dates or periods ending on or after December 15, 2008.

Some of the documents listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content, click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

======================
GOVERNMENT HEADLINES:
======================

Postemployment Benefits -- GASB Issues Proposed Technical Bulletin on Determining Annual Required Contribution Adjustment
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The GASB has issued for public comment a proposed GASB Technical Bulletin (GTB), Determining the Annual Required Contribution Adjustment for Postemployment Benefits. This proposal seeks to clarify the requirements for calculating the "annual required contribution" adjustment provided in GASB Statement No. 27, Accounting for Pensions by State and Local Governmental Employers, and GASB Statement No. 45, Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions. Specifically, this proposal applies to situations in which the annual required contribution includes a known amount related to the amortization of past employer contribution deficiencies or excess contributions to a pension or other postemployment benefit plan. In this situation, when the amount of interest (and principal, if any) is known, the use of the known amount (instead of estimated amount established under GASB 27 or GASB 45) is encouraged.

As proposed, this Technical Bulletin would be effective for financial statements for periods ending after December 15,2008. Earlier application is encouraged.

Comments on this proposed Technical Bulletin are due September 30, 2008.

Derivative Instruments -- GASB Statement on Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments Discussed
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have added a Governmental GAAP Update Service that is the first of a three part series on GASB Statement No. 53, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments. This Update introduces concepts and basic applications associated with the complex accounting and financial reporting for derivative instruments.

GASB 53 is intended to improve how state and local governments report information about derivative instruments in their financial statements. Specifically, GASB 53 requires governments to measure most derivative instruments at fair value in their financial statements that are prepared using the economic resources measurement focus and the accrual basis of accounting. GASB 53 also addresses hedge accounting requirements, providing specific criteria that governments will use to determine whether a derivative instrument results in an effective hedge.

GASB 53 is effective for financial statements for reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2009. Earlier application is encouraged.

Some of the documents listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content, click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com